Top News:
George A. King III / New York Post:
Yankees will not increase offer to Lee — Tweet — No more years. No more dollars. — If Cliff Lee is waiting for the Yankees to up their offer before deciding between The Bronx and Texas, the saga is going to continue. — GM Brian Cashman has spoken to agent Darek Braunecker since Thursday …
Discussion:
New Jersey Online, HardballTalk, River Avenue Blues, NESN.com and The LoHud Yankees Blog
RELATED:
Keitholbermann / Baseball Nerd:
Off A Cliff — With Carl Crawford already under the Red Sox Christmas Tree, Jayson Werth inexplicably paid as if he'd had the durability of a lesser Albert Pujols, the Yankees having tied themselves to an aging shortstop well on his way to batting 7th, and the Mets having deftly acknowledged without admitting …
Discussion:
The Mighty Quinn Media Machine
Brian Costa / Wall Street Journal:
Cliff Lee and Texas Tax Rates
Discussion:
HardballTalk and Al's Ramblings
T.R. Sullivan / MLB.com:
Texas hold 'em: Ryan, Rangers waiting on Lee
Discussion:
HardballTalk, Bombers Beat and The LoHud Yankees Blog
NY Daily News:
Red Sox made seven-year offer to Cliff Lee to raise price for Yankees …
Discussion:
Pinstripe Alley, Over the Monster, The Joy of Sox, Full Count and Fenway West
NY Daily News:
Madden: Werth wins, many lose at meetings
Discussion:
Yankees Daily and Texas Rangers
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Not everybody met with success this past week — OK, Cliff, how about it? — You're holding up the works. Baseball awaits your decision so that Carl Pavano and the rest of the free agents can start making theirs. — As one general manager said as he was leaving the winter meetings …
RELATED:
La Velle E. Neal III / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Looking ahead to the next phase for the Twins
Discussion:
JSOnline and MLB Rumors
Bill Ladson / MLB.com:
Nationals targeting Lee for first base — WASHINGTON — The Nationals continue to look for a first baseman and they have expressed interest in free agent Derrek Lee, a baseball source confirmed to MLB.com. — If Lee were to go to Washington, it would mean that the team …
Discussion:
MLB Rumors and The Nationals Enquirer
RELATED:
Bill Ladson / MLB.com:
Nationals are out of Lee sweepstakes — WASHINGTON — The Nationals are out of the Cliff Lee sweepstakes, a baseball source told MLB.com on Sunday night. No reason was given as to why the left-hander passed on Washington. — Published reports have indicated that Lee will decide on his baseball home sometime this week.
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com and NESN.com
Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Ryan traded to Seattle for High-A righty — ST. LOUIS — After a few weeks of exploring the market, the St. Louis Cardinals found a taker and apparently a reasonable return for shortstop Brendan Ryan. — The club traded their incumbent starting shortstop to the Seattle Mariners in exchange …
Discussion:
Baseball Prospectus, Viva El Birdos, Lookout Landing, U.S.S. Mariner, Baseball America and Yahoo! Sports
RELATED:
Joe Strauss / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Ryan draws interest from Twins
Discussion:
MLB Daily Dish, HardballTalk and MLB Rumors
Rob Bradford / Full Count:
Sources: Mariano Rivera initiated contact with Red Sox — According to multiple major league sources, Mariano Rivera's representatives were the ones to initiate contact with the Red Sox in an attempt to get the team interested in the closer. While the Red Sox would ultimately make a two-year offer …
Discussion:
Fenway West
Mike Axisa / MLB Rumors:
Athletics, Hideki Matsui Could Be Close To Agreement — 10:46pm: Slusser says that even though Matsui has not yet visited Oakland, the A's are the front runner to sign him with no close second. She's heard about a possible one-year, $5MM contract, but believes that might be low given the two-year, $16MM offer they made to Berkman.
